Why winning at FIFA 12 disgusted me so much I'll never play it again

soccer is f*****g retarded anyway. theres a clock that never stops, but when its over you people arbitrarily add 2 or 3 minutes to the game. it's f*****g insane. maaaaybe you should try a game of a man's sport, like basketball or baseball or football. at least they're not based on ridiculous rules and retarded clocks.

Time is added for while the clock is running but the ball is out of play, is that so hard to understand? I like how you call basketball and baseball men's sports, when basketball is non-contact and baseball is just a load of fat, steroid-riddled men trying and mainly failing to hit a ball for 5 hours. And then you have 'football' (why is it called that!!?!?) where they all wear pads, play for about 3 seconds then stop and stand around for a minute, so like baseball it ends up lasting about 4 times longer than it should do. Yeah, what an intense sport!

lol you finished? while you make idiotic points about sports about which you CLEARLY know nothing, i'll keep making my entirely wholly correct and inarguable point that having a game clock that doesn't stop when play stops is fucking stupid as hell. bottom line. if you think basketball is "non-contact," you're fucking blind as hell. it is not. if you think baseball is whatever you said it was, you're fucking wrong. steroids have been outta the game for going on 9 years. the 5 hour thing? i don't understand that, unless you have the attention span of a 3 year old. average time is around 3:12. try making a valid point next time, eh?

I read all your comments, lazer... blame the caffeine. You are either a very well trained troll or a complete ass. I haven't come to a decision yet... Regardless, you make the rest of us gamers/sports fans look like fools. With my power (don't question it) I hereby revoke your value in any discussion. Everyone can thank me later with copious blow jobs and hamburgers (unless you're a dude in which case an approving nod will do)

shut the fuck up asshole. really. i'm sure you think your comment is witty and unbelievably funny: it isn't. it's retarded. if you're not going to contribute to the discussion then shut the fuck up and stay on the sidelines like the rest of the cunts. and really, anything i can do to make you look like more of a fool than you already are, sign me up.

;) Aw, sweetie. Strike a nerve?

and no, you didn't "strike a nerve." admittedly the "sweetie" thing is more than a little disconcerting cause i think it's clear we're both dudes, but no, i was merely pointing out that your comment was unfunny and not witty, which, from the wording, random metaphors, sex-act references, syntax and use of unnecessary parenthesis, it was meant to be. that is all. you failed at wit. keep going to school though, maybe you'll learn it one day.

I'm not interested in your sports debate, I picked you as my bitch ;)

Soccer IS football. Remember, Americans changed the name for some weird, apparent reason.

no no no, i said come back when you've grown up and have something legitimate to say, not come back when you get back to mommy's house from school. aaaand i'm sure the moderator's will love that comment

Mommy's house? Bud, my family lives halfway across the country. Keep trying ;) You're just pissy because everyone here thinks you're a dick, and no matter what you say, that doesn't change. Come on, anything else for me to work off of? I'll admit maybe I am having too much fun screwing with my new bitc... I mean friend. :D

if by "screwing with your new bitch" you mean replying to my comments with your own idiotic comments, then sure i guess i'm screwing with my new bitch too. who knew all that was required to make someone "your bitch" (whatever that means anyway...i'll have to ask a 7th grader) was to reply to a comment by them on a videogame website? by that impenetrable logic, pretty much everyone here is someone's "bitch". like i said, grow up champ.

if it weren't for the malicious joy (if it doesnt hit me), the Blue Shell would have ruined Mario Kart for me

Nice article Justin, I have to admit that your grievances like the 45th, 90th minute goals, and the failed clearances are totally trued and god damn annoying. I still play FIFA and every year there seems to be some new bullshit that you have to deal with. I wonder why i buy it every year but it good that it's something that annoy someone besides me. Also I used to do the 90th minute goal against my friend all the time, he rages every time that I did it.

One thing I hate about Fifa 12, lob through passes, impossible to stop, defenders are slow, I start getting annoyed, 8-6 to them. Seems like a rugby score.

Top Spin 2 for me. Made it to a Grand Slam finals in the 2nd season of my pro, but couldn't deal with the suddenly brutal AI. I suppose I could just finish losing the match and level up my character for another run in season 3, but it's been years now so the likelihood of that happening now is nil.

Rubber-banding AI, the bane of my digital existence. I understand the appeal, and wholeheartedly support the logic behind it...that the AI is supposed to be a foil, not perfect, but today's games have taken it too far; they seem to be absolutely horrified of letting the player fail. Gamemakers reading this, allow me to share something. If I 'die' playing a game, that doesn't mean I'm automatically going to sell my copy and never play another game by that developer, publisher, or any member of its team ever again. I don't walk away from a game due to personal failures, consequences of my own poorly-executed plans or lacking skills. I do walk away from a game that's poorly made...and blatantly obvious, rubber-banding AI is a sign of a poorly-made game. If it does it at all, it needs to be absolutely invisible...and very few games actually need such a thing. Most can make due with multiple difficulty settings, or in the case of something like Forza 4, making minor adjustments between events. It is possible for the AI to be my foil, and to also beat me. Making it a foil means making it imperfect, with faults and flaws and strengths quirks and such...not inept and merciful, suddenly forgetting which end of the gun to point at me because my health's dropped below a certain threshold, or becoming perfect cold-blooded killers because my health's too high for the upcoming set-piece. As long as the difficulty levels and skill requirement progression are properly laid out, we gamers are smart enough to control our own destinies. If we fail but realize it's our own fault, if we fail but see another path to try, we'll try again. And if we just can't improve enough no matter how hard we try, we'll turn the difficulty down a notch. Case in point: Super Meat Boy. Not once did I get the impression that the game was holding my hand or out to get me or shoddily made...every mistake, every Meat Boy turned Ground Meat Boy I had an idea of what I did wrong, knew that if I polished my skills I'd get through. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Now that the rambling about game design theory is out of the way: If not for being a stubborn, proud prat I never would've finished any of the NFS games made between Underground and Most Wanted, let alone all of them...I can't remember seeing any AI band more blatantly than that series' one does. Two of the three I've snapped at most recently are ones I feel guilty about, as neither game is poorly made, just not polished any more than their budgets allowed: Blood Bowl and Operation Darkness. One has an RNG that gives every indication it's stacked in the AI's favor [four dice all coming up "You're screwed, mate" is a 1 in 1296 chance...yet I've had it happen multiple times in a single game], the other is just very bad at communicating to the player what they're supposed to do. I know there's something I'm supposed to be doing differently in OD, but have no idea what that different something is, and the game's not giving me any indication what I'm doing wrong. The third is CnC3, which continues my frustrations from CnC:RA2:YR. Missions designed with what strikes me as a 'one way to win' mentality...not so much putting me in control of a dynamic, raging battle, and more walking me through the motions of a semi-interactive movie. Thankfully CnC3's story thus far has more effort put into it than YR's did, as that simply repeated the same Mad Lib over and over, with no effort whatsoever made to tie the events into a cohesive metaplot. "Gasp! Yuri is in [city] using [new unit/building] for [nefarious justification for that unit's existence]! Watch [this custcene] that explains [unit/building]'s strengths/weaknesses/counter-tactics. Use this [multiplayer faction's unique unit] and follow [painfully granular step by step instructions] to stop him!" Anyway...I've ranted enough. You're right Justin, it is cathartic to get that off my chest.

Told you so, mate. And completely agree on the rubber banding :)

yeh I've always suspected a motivation system in FIFA as well, especially online, although in my case nothing seems to go for me in the first and last ten minutes! I usually dominate the rest of the game but by that time I could be 2-3 down. My biggest gripe is that way you have to try and keep control of your centre backs while defending to stop them playing the opposition through on goal by making Lucio-style runs into midfield only without the ball

The biggest rage quit moment of gaming for me was Evergrace for the PS2. My friend had bought it because it looked like a different style of action RPG. It was really fun... For about the first 2 hours. After that you got to a laboratory, and if you hadn't upgraded a few certain pieces of armor/weapon from early in the game then you lacked the special skills needed to proceed. Did I mention that everything was sellable, or able to broken down into materials to upgrade stuff? Needless to say, the early things you needed had long been sold/broken down, thereby completely stranding you in the game unless you restarted from the beginning. My friend and I looked at each when we realized what had happened, opened the disc tray without a word, took the game and put it back in the case, then proceeded to wrap the entirety of a whole roll of duct tape around the box until it was sealed up, then buried it in his backyard. It's probably still there if I were to go look... *shudder*

I've always had a suspicion about the momentum thing because i found making defenders pass it around, although really boring seems to make the attacking Midfielders & Strikers play much better. and nice to find somebody with the same opinion, Justin XD

Me and this friend of mine have an undisputed tittle...every time we meet, its 3 games...one with most wins takes the belt...I have to say...This game is cheeky and scabby as fuck...Counter Attack's on the 45th min and they call time before it can play out every time? Hand Ball's given in the pentaly box and outside because of glitchy "realism" setting(I turned on hand balls so REAL penalty/free kicks are given, not so when I run on the ball i get a hand ball EVERYTIME), rebound goals, and last but definately not least...If you tap B the goalie's AI gets confused and u will most probably score everytime. Oh yea! Also, fuck everyone who uses barcelona...You have 3 90's+ and Messi and you think i care to even try beat you? Yea right. That's why I don't play online, and rather limit the scabbyness as much as possible.( B shot frowned upon, so is the run to side of goal pass(crosses made harder so their ok) to middle, and the rebound goal is called the "kyle goal" in honour of my mate) Overall,I gotta say that this is one of my fav. sports games of ALL time...Tackling someone just before they shoot 1-1 with the goalie or dribbling past someone and then scoring a curling goal in the corner, or any 80+ mins. goal or even a smash with someone you didn't even think could score make this game almost as great as the real sport!(PS. WORLD CLASS is UNFAIR! They get EVERY header, every rebound, every loose ball and can come back from any score...they came back from 3-0 and 4-0:( )

The first game I actually gave up on-no going back-was Modern Warfare 3. I had already refused to buy it, but by pure luck my dad had bought it for me on launch day. I played it for about a week, but I just couldn't handle the terrible map design, the terrible graphics, the repetitive, grinding gameplay. And the campaign, OH, the campaign. The Michael Bay movie of gaming that was. Just to make sure I'd never play it again I sold it for 40 bucks.

after dying over and over and over and over again in the underwater level in Donald Duck In Maui Mallard for genesis. my childhood self just said 'that's it'. it's never being touched again until months later when a magazine printed the complete passwords (it was an internet-less era in my country pretty much) I even remember the password 'yohoho' because that's what I did everyday, input that password and fail. did it make it to your worst water level list?

But is it unrealistic Justin? Would you have attempted a half volley from Rooney in anything other than the dying seconds of a match when you have nothing to lose? Also, the closer you are to the whistle in each half, the more likely you are to score... http://postimage.org/image/91dfdgirt/ Just sayin....

I've had Football Manager for about 12 hours, and I think I've lost 8 out of 10 games, so far. I'm repeatedly losing 4-0 to the youth team of the reserve team of some hovel in darkest Croatia. I get out of the pre-season with four losses, and then get walloped 6-0 by Ajax on the opening day. So, yeah, if I lose to Stalinist 74 Zogblob again, FM12 is going on my 'never play again' list.